Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 17:21:48 +0000
From: Chris Boote (cboote@penagen.co.uk)
Subject: Re: Review of Spanish Main
David,
I, like you, used to think highly of Spanish Main, but I'm afraid that I've found a pretty serious flaw in the game.
The Spanish can hang near around the SM square, with the largest ship in the game and huge number of cannon, and intercept every english ship that comes their way.
They need never explore the 'Main, unless they want to, with their second ship, they WILL win every battle, and the English cannot get a large enough ship to fight them successfully.
This tactic stops the English haul of gold back to Europe, and allows the Spanish to win every game.
We haven't found a way to stop this yet, either, so unfortunately, this game has been relegated to 'nice idea, badly done' at the back of the cupboard.
I spoke to Francis about this flaw, and he offered to give me my money back, because he sadi that he hadn't come across anyone else playing this way...
I kept the game, because I am CONVINCED that there is an excellent little game here, if I can just find a way to prevent this standoff.
Chris
Date: Wed, 13 Nov 1996 17:34:24 -0800 (PST)
From: David L. Richtmyer (dlrichtm@umich.edu)
Subject: Re: Review of Spanish Main
Chris,
We've not run into this problem, though in our next game I will give this strategy a try to see if it works out the way you say it does.
It seems to me that a certain amount of Spanish exploration is necessary, at the very minimum to get up enough cash to buy that monster ship.
As to your point about always being able to intercept the English ship, we've found it difficult to do that given the cards that the Spanish have; English captains get the kinds of cards (like the ones that allow you to go diagonal) that allow them to dance rings around the Spanish.
Nonetheless, I will try out this monster Spanish strategy to see if it is a game killer. Thanks for your posting.
Take care,
David